A Royal Conspiracy
by mcl2436
Summary: What happens when Queen Helena figures out there is more to life than just the monarchy? Can she undo the damage that she has done? Can her family be fixed? One things for sure, she's going to try. And she may have to bring down an old ally to do it.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks for reading! The first chapter is going to follow along with the episode just because I thought the scene was missing a little extra, plus it sets up where I'm wanting this to go. I promise as you keep reading it does become my own take on the series. Please review, I greatly appreciate it!

* * *

As queen Helena pushed the off button on her TV remote unable to listen any further to the continuous discussion of her infidelity and the news of her children's illegitimacy, she heard a slow but steady clap. Turning, she saw her only daughter, Eleanor, leaning against the door, her usually smudged eyeliner further smeared by the tears she had ultimately shed and a look of shear disdain on her face.

"Bravo Queen," she seethed.

"Darling I can explain," said Queen Helena as she watched Eleanor slowly walk into the room.

Eleanor moved towards the couch, stopping to pick up a pillow, as her mother sat down on the nearest loveseat. "Explain what exactly? Oh, Oh, how you and Cyrus fixed the whole thing?! Is that what you mean, mother?!

The Queen, seemingly unfazed by her daughter's accusations simply folded her hands, "If only that were true."

"Oh I think we both know that you did. But what I can't figure out, is what kind of person would allow herself to face this kind of global ridicule if it weren't true," and with that Eleanor slowly ripped open the feather pillow she had been holding.

"Eleanor," shouted that queen, that pillow is older than America!" Even as she scolded her daughter, she sat unmoving as she watched Eleanor pick up the next closest pillow.

The princess, completely deaf to her mother's tone, kept on, "One that couldn't give it all up, the money, the power, the pillows," and with that she ripped open the second pillow, feathers landing in her dark, unruly curls.

"You know I care about this family's image, Eleanor."

"No Queen, not the family's imagine, the monarchies image. No monarchy, no queen, no pillows." with that Eleanor, reached and grabbed another pillow. "Don't," said Helena as she jumped to her feet. Instead of ripping the pillow, Eleanor threw it to her mother, who caught it and hugged it tight.

Eleanor eyed her mother as she ambled slowly towards the fireplace only stopping to pick up the framed photo sitting on the mantle. As she stood studying the young king and queen with their three beautiful children, she couldn't help but think how happy they looked. Without looking up from the photo she continued, "I've been up all night thinking about it. I walked the streets that my father walked and somewhere out there, in the middle of the night it all made perfect sense. The paternity, the kings attack, Robert's death." Only then did Eleanor look up to meet her mother's eyes, " Did you kill Robert mom?"

Queen Helena hugged the pillow even tighter as she said with contempt in her voice,"walk away." With that she turned her back on her daughter, only to be met with further accusation, " I think you did. I think you and Cyrus have been planning this for a long time, a military accident wasn't it? That's clever."

Turning back to face her daughter, Helena coolly replied, " I said get out before I get angry.'

Eleanor taking steps towards her mother replied with a smirk, " Not until you admit it. Admit you killed your own son, and then you tried to kill your husband. "

" I said walk away, Eleanor."

Not relenting at all, Eleanor pushed further, "Admit mom, maybe it will help you if you just say it out loud."

With that Queen Helena closed the distance between them, "No one killed Robert, because Robert killed himself. He committed suicide. Now, you tell me does that make you feel better hearing me say it out loud?"

The smirk on Eleanor's face gave way to both shock and surprise as her mother admitted the truth about her beloved brother's death. Even as Helena said it, Eleanor knew what her mother spoke was true. This wasn't a lie or manipulation; this was her mother showing a rare crack in the facade, emotion evident as she spoke.

Leaning further in, until she was almost touching nose to nose the queen whispered, "While I may be a lot of things, while I can manipulate most any situation, and I can wear the crown of Queen Bitch with the best of them, there is no way in hell I would have my own child murdered. You may hate me Eleanor, and God knows I've given you the right, but even you know that, nor would I have attempted to have your father murdered. I may not tell you often, I can't even remember the last time I did say it actually, but I do love you Len, and if I need to rip every goddamn pillow in the palace to prove it I will."

With that, the queen tore the pillow she'd been holding from end to end leaving feathers floating everywhere as she turned and strode out, leaving behind her bewildered daughter to contemplate what she'd just been told: Her brother committed suicide, her mother had just used a term of endearment that she hadn't uttered since Eleanor was small, and for once, she actually believed what her mother had said.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Queen Helena sat at her desk, staring at a picture she often kept hidden in the top drawer. It was of her and King Simon, from a much happier time. The picture couldn't have been more than a few years old but it seemed like it had been taken a lifetime ago. For the life of her she couldn't figure out when the picture had moved from the corner of her desk, to the desk drawer. "Probably about the time she stopped becoming excited when he was back from a trip and he stopped bringing her flowers," she thought.

She studied the picture further, gently running her finger over her husband's face, "were we ever really happy?"

They had been happy once, or as happy as a couple that didn't marry for love could be. But in time it had come; unfortunately it was after the birth of the twins. Helena always knew there was a chance the twins didn't belong to Simon, but after their arrival she couldn't bring herself to find out the truth. Besides, no one would suspect the Queen of England of cheating on the country's beloved King.

"And now its come back to bite me in the arse," she muttered, "and worst of all I did it myself."

Setting the picture of Simon and herself on the desk, she reached further into the drawer and pulled out another frame. This time it was a family picture, the same photo Eleanor had been looking at earlier. A beautiful family they were, two boys and a girl, all smiles and all appearing as carefree as possible. God how far they'd all come; one son dead of suicide no less, the twins were a shitshow who despised her, and her husband was in a coma.

"How did this happen? When did this happen," Helena thought. The words of her daughter echoed in her mind, "It's not the family's imagine, its the monarchy's image." She was right, it was all about the monarchy. Everything she did was for the monarchy no matter the consequence, but this time seeing the look in her daughter's eyes rocked her further than she thought possible. Helena was prepared for it to be bad, but this was something she'd probably never recover from.

As if it wasn't bad enough, her own daughter had just accused her of having her first born killed. Helena leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. She had messed up, she sacrificed her family for the crown. She knowingly had teamed up with the devil just to ensure her position in the monarchy would remain.

The devil. Cyrus. She had helped him, she had schemed with him, all at her family's expense. Oh she was going to keep her crown all right, it would just cost her everything else.

So lost in her own thoughts and feelings of guilt she didn't even hear her assistant Rachel enter the room.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I'm just letting you know that Mr. Pryce phoned ahead to say he needs to speak with you and he will be here in fifteen minutes " Rachel said in a voice barely over a whisper as not to wake the queen if she had fallen asleep. Rachel knew she could use some rest after the chaos of the last few days.

Slowly opening her eyes, Queen Helena responded, " Very well. Show him in as soon as he arrives. And Rachel, make sure Cyrus doesn't know about this meeting."

"As you wish, ma'am. I'll show him in as soon as he arrives." With that, Rachel turned and left the study, leaving Helena to further reflect on the monstrosity that had become her life.

* * *

Eleanor stepped off the elevator heading towards her father's room. It was so odd traveling without her detail. For the first time in her life she could go as she pleased, no longer having to sneak away from the guards hired to protect her.

She rounded the corner of the corridor where here father was being cared for only to be met by two armed guards.

"We can't let you by ma'am," said the first guard careful to not meet her eyes.

Eleanor, taken aback, "what do you mean can't let me by? Im going to see my dad, the king, of course you can let me by."

"No ma'am, we can't. We have orders," the second guard spoke up.

"On whose orders?! I demand to know. Thats MY FATHER in there fighting for his life, you can't stop me from seeing him. He needs me!" Eleanor stated, her voice growing louder with each word.

"Only family is allowed per Prince Cyrus. We are under strict instructions not to let anyone but himself or The Queen by, " Answered the first guard, finally meeting her eyes. He continued on, "Im very sorry ma'am. But we're under orders."

"Under orders my ass! You do realize, when the king wakes up, he will have both of your jobs?! You're preventing his only daughter from seeing him. I need to see him! Please, just let me see him. " Tears were forming as Eleanor begged.

The first guard, visibly ashamed for what he was being required to do spoke "I'm so sorry ma'am. You're going to have to take this up with Cyrus."

Eleanor eyed them both before she turned to leave, "Believe me, I fucking will"

"Mr. Pryce, unless you're here to tell me you have an update on my husband's attacker, I'm really not in the mood," Queen Helena said bluntly as she was watched the head of security enter her study.

"Yes ma'am. I do have a photo I need to show you, and also another matter to discuss with you." Pryce replied as he handed over an iPad. "The man in this photo, have you ever seen him before? At an event, anywhere that you or the king has been?"

Careful to study the photo closely, "No, I've never seen this man before. Who is he, Mr Pryce?"

Taking a seat opposite the queen Ted Pryce began, "At this time, we don't know. He stood exactly like that for hours just staring at the gate or camera. He wanted to be seen that's for sure. I have both MI-5 and MI-6 running him through facial recognition. Based on his stance I'm guessing ex-military, but I can't say for certain. Currently, he is our prime suspect; we hope to know his name within the next few hours. "

Queen Helena pursed her lips, "Very well. I want to know as soon as you do who this man is and what his role in the attack was. I also have a question for you Mr. Pryce. I need to know, are my children safe? With what's happened with the King, and after what happened at Liam's crowning, I need to make sure they are safe."

Mr. Pryce lowered his eyes, "Your majesty, that is what I needed to speak to you about. I have been instructed as of several hours ago, to remove the security detail from both Prince Regent and the Princess. I was also instructed that they are not to be allowed to see the King, at all. Orders from Cyrus himself, only family is allowed."

Ted Pryce was one to attest, in all of his years serving at the pleasure of the king, it was rare to see any type of maternal display of affection from the queen. So he was shocked to say the least as he watched the wave of emotions cross her face.

"Mr. Pryce," she started slowly. Anger dripping from her words. "You mean to tell my, my children, who for the first 22 years of their life have had constant security, are now wondering around the city unattended. Regardless of paternity, they are still MY children, and the last time I checked I am still the goddamn Queen of England. So before you utter another word, think slowly how you're going to answer me."

"I will have their details replaced immediately ma'am. Cyrus made me call them off during our meeting earlier; I had no choice in the matter. But I can promise you both Liam and Eleanor will be secured within the hour."

"Good, Mr Pryce. Answers like that are what I like to here. How you ever let this happen though, is beyond me; they are still Royals. Period. Now just make sure it is taken care of." Before he could get another word in, the Queen continued on. "What did you mean by they're not allowed to see Simon. I know I had to have misunderstood that."

"No ma'am you did not. After I had the details called off, I was instructed to inform the guards at King Simon's door that only you or Cyrus is to be allowed in. Family only, was the way I was told to instruct them."

Livid would be a mild description for what Ted Pryce was seeing before him. Queen Helena was seeping anger from every pore. "Mr Pryce, they will be allowed to see him. But I want the king brought here as soon as he can be transported. I don't know what Cyrus is thinking; Simon will be better protected here than there. Do it secretly Pryce. The whole palace doesn't need to know what is going on, and most of all Cyrus. As for Cyrus," she continued, "you leave him to me." With that, the Queen gave a smirk and dismissed him with her trademark, "Walk Away."

Before the head of security could leave, he heard, "Oh and Mr Pryce. Jasper from Nevada, give him back to Eleanor. I trust him with my daughter." Then with a slight nod of his head, he left the room.

"Rachel," summoned the Queen. Seconds later a tall, attractive woman reappeared. "Seeing as we recently discussed your extra curricular activities, I know that you can obviously keep a secret. I want you to set up a meeting with Roger Moorefield, today. I need him here as soon as possible."

"Roger Moorefield of the anti-monarchist movement?" questioned her assistant.

Queen Helena, giving her infamous smirk replied, "The one and the same. No one is to know he's here. But it's time we have a chat. That is all, now walk away."


	3. Chapter 3

Thank You so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you continue to do so! I really thought that there needed to be another scene with the Queen and Eleanor dealing with the paternity. So here it is. Enjoy!

While waiting for her for the leader of the anti-monarchist movement to arrive, Queen Helena retreated to her bedroom needing a few moments completely alone. She needed to consider her next move; for so long her every action was some play or move that would protect her image as queen. Perfect scripted family, perfectly put together attire, everything in place. Of course there were the tabloid splashes her children insisted on, all but Robert. Robert understood the game; how she missed him, ached to tell him how much she loved him and was proud of him. Her need to be in control hadn't even allowed her to mourn him properly, instead even at his funeral she had appeared stoic and unmoved.

In the private confines of this very room was where she had finally let herself fall apart. He was her son, after all. It was also in this very room, where just weeks before Simon had told her she should be nicer to her children. She actually told him that it was too late. "It very well may be, but I can at least try to rectify the situation," pondered Helena. "Bloody mess."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she stared at the photo gracing her nightstand. It was the same one of her seemingly perfect family that she had studied earlier. "What to do." she thought. "If I go against Cyrus and fail, I lose not only the family, but the crown as well. If I side with him, then I lose them all for sure."

Eleanor stormed through the hallway of the palace, a woman on a mission. She was going to find Cyrus if she had to hunt him down like the dog he was. But first, she had another stop to make. She had almost believed her mother when they had spoken earlier, only to find herself locked out of her father's hospital room hours later. There wasn't a move that her uncle made without her mothers knowledge; she was going to pay for this as well.

She had first stopped by her mothers study, only to have a guard point her in the direction of her parent's bedroom. The anger and hurt she was feeling, completely overtaking what little self control she did have. Flinging open the door to the room she entered, slamming it shut, as she found her mother sitting on her bed.

"You bitch," she spat, "Did you know?!"

"Eleanor, please! I have know idea what you're even talking about, and I don't appreciate the language."

"Did you know that Cyrus had me blocked from seeing my father? That's what i'm fucking talking about. Did you?! Eleanor shouted at mother.

"Eleanor," her mother said sternly, "Watch your language." Then in reply,"I just found out myself; Mr Pryce informed me earlier that Cyrus had both you and Liam blocked from the room, as well as having your security details removed. I can assure you darling, that I had no clue what he was doing. If you go back now you'll be allowed in, I had Mr Pryce instruct the guards. Your detail has been restored as well. No child of mine is going to be running around this city with no protection."

Eleanor studied her mother. There was something different about her demeanor, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Child of yours, Queen?" chided Eleanor, "are you dying mum? I mean really, between our conversation this morning and this?"

"I'm not in the mood, Eleanor, really. Can I for once just be concerned? Is it really so hard for you to believe? Never mind, I actually know the answer to that. Just go away, please."

As usual, instead of listening to what her mother said, Eleanor walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "You're really starting to freak me out. I mean, with what happened to dad, and then that bombshell you and Cyrus dropped on us, I don't think I can deal with anything else. So can you just go back to being your normal control freak, bitchy self?"

Instead of answering, Queen Helena rolled her eyes at her daughters comment.

"Mum. I need to know something. And I want the truth, after everything you owe me that," Eleanor continued. "Did you ever love dad? I mean really love him? Or was he just a means to an ends?"

"You wound't understand, Eleanor. You've never had to sacrifice for anything. We didn't promise your hand in marriage to anyone, though maybe if we had your numerous sexual escapades wouldn't have ended up on the cover of the tabloids." Helena quipped."I did what had to be done, and i'd do it again."

"Thats not what I asked and you know it. Just tell me the truth. My god, what is wrong with our family? We're all so screwed up. You, me, Liam. Even dad. Robert was the only good one, and look what that got him." Eleanor stopped, realizing what she had just said.

Queen Helena sat silently a moment, before uttering a single word, "yes." Then, "Yes, I did love your father, I still do. Was I ever in love with him?" She let the question linger. "It wasn't a traditional marriage, I'm sure you know that; It was an arrangement. But as the dutiful daughter I was, I did it anyway. He's a good man Eleanor, and he deserves better than me, and I'm starting to realize that. Oh, I was there to push him when he needed it, and be a Queen to his people, give him the heirs he always wanted," she trailed off.

"Was he the great love of my life? God no, but we made it work. I wasn't the great love of his life either. That honor was some little meekly school teacher that was a total bore. I checked her out once just to see." Helena said with a chuckle. "Eleanor, I want you to listen to me carefully, your father is going to make it through this and when he does, things are going to change around here. We may not continue as royals, depending on what happens with the vote, but at the end of the day we are still a family. I'm still going to be your mother, and regardless of what those tests say, Simon is still your father."

Eleanor couldn't even reply, this was so unlike her mother. She wasn't even sure what to say in response. But for once, she wanted to tell her what she was really feeling. "Do you even know how bad you hurt us? I mean really? Our whole world has been flipped upside down. We're not royal, the man who I thought is my father is barely hanging on, and if that wasn't enough you slept with my body guard!" She through that last part in as nothing more than a mere dig, and continued on, "I don't even know how to be anything other than a princess, and you've taken that away."

The Queen, in another uncharacteristic move said, "Eleanor, look at me. I was wrong when I told you that without this you'd be nothing. I know how bad I've hurt you and your brother. I'm sorry, and I can promise you I'm trying my hardest to make it up to you. I'm sorry for Jasper as well. I had him reassigned to you, if that makes up for it? Now, why don't you go back to the hospital? I have some business to take care of."

A small tear trickled down Eleanor's cheek as she listened to her mother, all anger slowly dissipating. She didn't want to believe her, but goddamn it she couldn't help it; she did. "It must be the fact she's my mum and deep down I need to believe she's not that bad?" Eleanor thought. She stood up to leave.

"Eleanor, have you seen or spoken to Liam? I haven't seen him at all, I'm rather worried."

"No, I haven't, not since we were at the hospital to get the blood tests. But he was really messed up, rather in denial as well. He actually wanted to believe that you wouldn't cheat on dad." Eleanor jabbed. While she may believe her mother, she was no where close to forgiving her.

Queen Helena took the insult in stride, "If you see him, will you please tell him I'm looking for him, and also let me know. Obviously, he may not want to see me but i'd still like to know that he's safe."

Eleanor nodded her head. Before she could turned to leave she asked, " And what about Cyrus. If what you say is true, and you didn't know he was having us blocked from seeing dad or that he was going to drop the bomb about us not even being royals, then he deserves to be punished. What are you going to do about that? Are you even going to do anything?"

"Cyrus will be handled. Trust me on this, he's not even going to see it coming. If you run into him, act as if nothing has changed. Throw a fit, hell take a swing for all I care. All I ask is that you don't let him know that anything has changed. He still needs to think I'm helping him, and I that I'm willing to sacrifice my family for our cause."

"Oh, that wont be a problem. I hope I run into him, the bastard! Taking a swing may be the least of his worries. Besides mum, why would he think i'd speak to you, for the most part we don't even tolerate each other." With that, Eleanor left the room headed back to the hospital.

As Queen Helena watched her daughter go, she realized that in talking to Eleanor, her decision had been made. She hadn't even realized it, but as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew it was the right thing to do. She would quite probably end up losing her crown, unless Simon pulled through. "And I might still lose it regardless," she thought. "A divorced ex queen, for the love of god." She shuddered at the thought. "Either way, I am going to make this up to them. I owe them all that much."

With that, she headed out of her bedroom to meet a Mr. Nigel Moorefield.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you so much to have all who have read my story and reviewed it or favorited it. I appreciate all the feedback I can get. I would also like to apologize for the delay in getting this chapter posted. I Couldn't quite figure out how I wanted it to go. Hopefully, it's decent; I had to redo it several times. Thanks again!

M

* * *

Eleanor left her mothers room heading for the sanctuary of her own. "I desperately need to shower and change clothes before I can go back to the hospital," was all she could think. Once news had broken of her fathers condition, the hospital was the only place that she had wanted to be. She couldn't even remember the last time she had showered. Plus she needed a few minutes to just be.

Opening the door to her room, the princess was met with a surprise. It took Eleanor a brief second to process what she was seeing. There on hands and knees, were her cousins Maribel and Penelope, measuring her room with a tape measure.

"What the hell do you think you're both doing?! Shouted Eleanor as she walked into her bedroom.

Fate had dealt them the worst hand possible, as they had been fathered by none other than Cyrus. Their poor mother had long since left the picture, leaving them to be raised more by servants than their father, and even that wasn't a saving grace as both were genetically inept.

Penelope, stammering, tried to explain. "We were, em, we were just,' she trailed off.

Eleanor reached and grabbed an arm of each cousin, "you were just getting out, is what you were doing." She gave them a final shove out the door and slammed it behind them.

"Unfucking believable." she said aloud to no one in particular. "I find out I"m not really a princess and before the day is over my room is being redecorated."

Eleanor walked over to the chair and collapsed. "God it would be so easy to take a hit right now," she thought. "But today is not the day to disappoint dad anymore."

She could still hear him telling her that he was disappointed, that he knew she could do better. "Do better tomorrow," as he had told her.

"When you pull through, I will show you dad. I can make you proud." Eleanor whispered to herself.

With that, she went to get ready, she needed to get back to the hospital. If her mother had fixed it to where she would be able to see her father, then she was going to spend every minute there that she could.

* * *

"Mr Moorefiled, thank you for agreeing to see me on such notice," greeted Queen Helena warmly. "Please have a seat."

"Well ,it's not everyday the Queen of England requests ones presence. And please call me Nigel, ma'am."

"I'd rather not Mr. Moorefield. I asked you here to discuss something of importance. As you know, the king was attached."

Before Helena could go any further, she was interrupted. "You don't think I had anything to do with that do you? My group may not believe in the monarchy but I can assure you we had nothing to do with the attack!"

"Mr. Moorefield. While you do have shifty eyes, you also look very cowardly. There is not even a doubt in my mind that you had nothing to do with the King's attack. There has never been, nor will there ever be a king brought down by anyone named Nigel," Queen Helena stated matter-of-factly. She continued on, "I need to talk to you about the chain of succession. I need your help."

"I don't understand your highness?" Questioned Nigel Moorefiled, "I don't even see how I could help you. I'm against the monarchy; I want it disbanded."

Without missing a beat, the queen started to explain, "With the King's health questionable at best, and the recent news of the Prince Regent's parentage, the next in succession is Cyrus. But what happens if something happens to him? Have you ever met my nieces Mr Moorefield?

With that, the queen signaled for them to be brought in. "Mr. Moorefield, allow me to present Princess Penelope and Princess Maribel."

Queen Helena watched as Nigel Moorefield's expression went from one of shock to horror. "Probably trying to decide what the hell they're both wearing," she thought.

"I'd love a little more of you in my field," said Penelope, with laugh.

"Walk away, now." demanded the queen. Waiting until they exited the room, Helena turned back to the man beside her.

"My God." was all he could say. "That is the next in line?!"

"Yes, now back to what I want to discuss. I need your help. See, If something were to happen to Cyrus, I want parliament to vote to allow me to be next in line to the crown. And if that happens, I will help you demolish the monarchy forever." Finished the Queen.

"That would make you the last monarch of England. Would you really do that to your family?"

Queen Helena looked him directly in the eye, "My family is all but gone Mr. Moorefield, this may be my last chance at salvaging it. If I can't, then they are gone for good, and when I'm gone, you can burn it to the ground for all I care."

Nigel Moorefield remained silent, shocked by the Queens frankness.

"Do we have a deal then," she asked?

"Yes ma'am, I believe I can help you if it comes down to it."

"Thank you for stopping by Mr Moorefield. I knew I could count on you. You can see yourself out."As Nigel Moorefield exited by the front entrance to Queen Helena's study, her assistant Rachel entered through the back.

"Ma'am, is there anything else I can do for you besides the update on your husband?" asked Rachel.

"Yes, I need to know where Cyrus is. I have a few things that I need to discuss with him immediately."

Without hesitation Rachel replied, "He's in his office, as he's now calling it. He has some tailor fitting him for new suits. Apparently, as the new Prince Regent, his clothes aren't elaborate enough."

"Hmmph. I'll bet they're not." Helena remarked. Then under her breathe she added, "bastard."

"Now, what is the update on my husband? I want him moved here as soon as possible, Rachel. Mr Pryce is already aware, but I want you to stay on top of his doctors and make this happen sooner rather than later. He'll be safer here."

"Understood, your majesty. As for his condition, he is still on a ventilator to assist with his breathing, as well as being in a medically induced coma. The doctors do feel that they can start to decrease the sedation at this point to see if he will wake up on is own. It may take a few more days before they can remove the ventilator. There is also a chance of infection due to the stab wounds. So he is on preventative antibiotics." explained Rachel.

Queen Helena listened intently as Rachel repeated what the doctors had told her. Then nodded her head in understanding; she dismissed Rachel.

Hearing Simon's update bothered her almost as bad her talks with Eleanor earlier in the day. "I really have made a bloody mess of things," the queen thought. "And he may not wake up to hear me apologize. The last thing that he even said to me was in anger."

Helena pictured the scene from days before, when Simon had caught her scheming with Cyrus. He had yelled that her affair's were over, all before calling her a bitch and walking out.

"Well, he had that part right," she thought. "No, he will wake up. There is no if about it. And when he does, I'm going to make things right with him too. I'm going to prove that I can be better to my children, and to him.

Now, to find Cyrus.

* * *

Helena gracefully walked the halls of the palace on her way to find Cyrus. He had never had an office before, mainly because he never worked and seemed to care less about anything other than drugs, alcohol, and whatever fling he was having at the moment. God how it pained her to see him in a position to become king.

Queen Helena couldn't help but wonder how she had ever thought helping him become king would be a good idea. But what was done was done, now she just had to figure out how to clean up the mess.

As she approached the entrance to his current "office" she could hear voices; Helena couldn't help herself, she paused and listened.

"But dad, it's our room now, she had no right to throw us out! And she literally grabbed us and tossed us out of it! She's not even a princess anymore. Make her leave it."

Helena couldn't even distinguish which of her wretched nieces it was, but she caught the just of what was going on. Eleanor had thrown them out of her room. "Good for her!" she thought.

Before Helena could make a step into the room, she heard Cyrus' reply. "She is a princess, get her out yourselves if you want her out."

Something clicked into place as Helena heard him speak those words. She wasn't sure if it was the tone of his voice, or the way that Cyrus had said it, but she knew. Her children were royal; somehow he had fixed the blood test.


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize for it taking so long to update. God knows I hate it when stories aren't updated in a timely fashion and now i'm doing it too. I appreciate all who have reviewed, favorited, and followed. Thanks for sticking with it. Already working on the next chapter. Trying to have it up within the next day or so. Thanks again, and please review!

* * *

The Queen entered the room, "Cyrus, we need to talk."

"Yes, we do. Have you spoken to Alistair yet? Is he aware he can now celebrate father's day." Cyrus giggled at his own joke, as he settled into a love seat.

God how she loathed this man, the amusement he was finding from the whole mess was revolting. If she closed her eyes, she could almost picture choking the life out of him. It would serve him right. But no, she had to play this cool, he had to be completely oblivious to her new found desire to protect her family.

Queen Helena took several steps towards him, "Not yet." "Cyrus," she started,"do you think we've gone too far this time?"

"For God sakes, He was going to disband the monarchy. It had to be done." He flipped his hand nonchalantly.

The queen, walked to the window, and looked out, saying quietly, "You should have seen the look in Eleanor's eyes. I knew it would be bad, but I'll never recover from this. There's no going back, Cyrus." She was thankful she had her back turned to him, for a single tear slipped down here cheek. Quickly she wiped it away.

Not seeming to have noticed the change in her demeanor Cyrus went on,"On the other hand, you're the queen of England and you'll remain the queen of England until I marry again." Helena shot him a look. "As If," he said with an eye roll.

"And what about Simon?" She Questioned. "What happens when he recovers."

Ever the dramatic, Cyrus responded,"If he recovers, Queen. If he recovers.." "While you're here, a little bird told me you had a meeting with a Mr. Nigel Moorefield. Care to explain what that was about."

Taken aback at his knowledge of the meeting, Helena quickly recovered, looking him in the eye. "I'm just covering our bases. You never know when he could come in handy, nothing more." "Don't be so paranoi, Cyrus, it doesn't suit you."

The sound of someone clearing their throat caused them both to look at the entrance of the room, only to see Mr. Pryce standing there. "We've come up with a suspect. On more than one occasion he has come and stood at the gates for hours on end, staring straight ahead." Pryce walked over and handed Helena a tablet with the image of the unidentified man.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"Currently we don't know but we have MI-5 and MI6 looking into it. We should know very soon, ma'am."

Helena handed the tablet back, "What are we doing about security for the king?"

"We have guards posted at each entrance to the hospital, on his floor, and at the entrance to his room. We have him completely protected."

Cyrus mumbled, "oh thats reassuring, seeing as you were supposed to protect him before."

As quickly as the realization about the twins came to her, Helena had another thought hit her. She just prayed Mr. Pryce would go along with what she was going to say. "Good. When he is well enough I want him moved home."

Pryce looked questioningly at the queen. When they had spoken mere hours ago, she didn't want Cyrus to know anything about this move. The Queen must be up to something he thought, or she wouldn't have brought this up in front of Cyrus. Making the quick decision to go along with whatever she was planning, Prcye said, "His condition is very critical your majesty, he really shouldn't be moved at this time.

"Yes I understand that Mr. Pryce, and when he is well enough, I want him home, I expect you to have a plan for that, do you understand me." Helena said a silent thank you that he didn't mention their earlier conversation about this very topic.

"As you wish." Mr. Pryce turned and left the room.

Helena, realizing she needed an explanation for the move, looked at Cyrus and said,"The closer he is, the better we can monitor him."

"See thats the spirit, its all going to work out. I'll be King, you'll be Queen. The rest will fall into place." There was a glee in Cyrus' voice as he spoke.

"Cyrus, have you heard anything I've said? My children hate me."

With a roll of his eyes, Cyrus responded, "Boring, my children have always hated me, thats what those little bastards do. Now I need to go see about something." Cyrus gave her a parting smirk, and walked out of his study.

* * *

Queen Helena had almost reached her office after speaking to Cyrus, when she heard a voice whisper, "Your Majesty."

There stepping out of the secret opening to the tunnels, was Tom Pryce. He held the door open for her and simply said, "after you."

Checking to see that no one was watching, Helena stepped in followed by Pryce, who let the door shut behind him.

"Explain your majesty. I can't protect you or the king if I don't know what's going on."

"First of all, I really don't have to explain anything to you, but at some point I may need your help, so I will." Queen Helena eyed him. She hated being told what to do. "I do appreciate you following my lead in there. Cyrus needs to think that was a spur of the moment decision and that we're moving the king home so we can watch him better. But the truth Mr. Pryce, is that I'm not sure Cyrus isn't somehow involved, or at the very least someone here in the Palace. If we move the king home, not only can we keep a better eye on him, but if they were to try again, we can catch them."

"I'm not sure that's a great idea, Queen. Why put the king at that risk, almost using him as bait?" "I can't let you do that."

"Mr. Pryce, I'm not really asking for your permission. But has it occurred to you that he may recover quicker in his own home, surrounded by family and people that love him. I'm not the perfect wife by any means, but maybe I'd just like to have him home. It would be good for him, it will be good for my children. And I'll be damned if someone tries to keep them from seeing him in his own home."

Mr. Pryce eyed her carefully. "Then you should know the hospital has informed me that he is safe to be moved. He should be here within the next 2 hours." He was shocked to hear what he took as a sigh of relief come from the queen.

"Good, that means he has improved at least a little." "One more thing Mr. Pryce, while I was talking to Cyrus, he made a comment about a meeting that I had earlier today. It wasn't on the books, which means he should have had no way of knowing about it. Only myself, Rachel, and quite probably Lucious knew about it. Seeing as I didn't tell him, someone else did. Lucious has been with me for years, but my gut is telling me he's feeding information to Cyrus. Can you find out?"

"I'll personally look into Your Majesty. And we'll notify you as soon as we've identified the man from the pictures."

"Very well, Mr Pryce. Oh and have a copy of his photo sent to Rachel please."

The Queen opened the small door leading back into the palace interior and exited the tunnel.


	6. Chapter 6

Eleanor made her way down the hospital corridor towards her father's room. She was desperate to see him, having previously been denied the opportunity. Her mother had assured her she would have access to the king, another uncharacteristic move the queen had recently made.

It was becoming increasingly hard to figure her mother out. But she couldn't worry about that now, she needed to talk her father. She needed him to know that she would do better, that she would make him proud of her, if he would just wake up.

The guards that had kept her from seeing her father were now no where to be seen; the princess began to worry. Where was everyone? She pushed the door open to what had been the king's room only to find it empty, the bed neatly made. Eleanor's heart began to pound, her mind racing,"Where was he?! Had something happened and she hadn't been told?!" She raced back into the hallway looking for anyone that could give her information.

Eleanor saw a nurse, frantically asking, "My father, where is he?! What's happened?!" Why isn't he here?!"

"Princess," the nurse said reassuringly, "Your father was transported back to the palace an hour ago. It seems your mother requested that he be moved as soon as he was well enough. He's still under sedation, but he showed enough improvement to leave." With a small smile, the nurse went back to her duties.

Walking back into the hospital room that had belong to the king, Eleanor sat down on the bed. She felt her cellphone vibrate for the umpteenth time. It was probably Jasper again, he had been blowing her phone up for the last few hours now that he was back as her detail. Still unready to forgive him or even acknowledge him, Eleanor let it go unanswered. He would just have to find her on his own.

She just needed a minute before she had to deal with her life. Sitting in the silence, Eleanor began talking to her father. "I've already lost Robert, Dad. I can't lose you too." "I won't be able to make it without you. I, I just can't." She continued on, "Robert should be here, not me. He was the good one. Why didn't I call him dad; Its' all my fault."

As if he were standing behind her, Eleanor could hear her father's voice. "Lenny, you're stronger than you think. Everything good that the people see in me, I see in you. I see it everyday, I just wished you could. Now think Eleanor, do you really think as much as Robert loved you and doted on you, that he would leave you on purpose. You know the truth, Len, you feel it as much as I did."

And she did. The voice she heard, whether real or not, confirmed the nagging feeling she had been carrying since her mother told her the real cause of Robert's death. Subconsciously she had known, her brother wouldn't leave her like that. She needed to get back to the palace and talk to her mother, to get every detail. The Queen always seemed to know every detail of her children's lives as they were usually on display in the tabloids; there was no way she wouldn't know every last detail about Robert's death, even if it had been squashed for the sake of the people.

* * *

Eleanor stepped onto the elevator, barely glancing at the hooded figure in the corner. She turned her back on him, lost in thought as the elevator started to descend.

"Princess" she heard. Before she could fully turn around, the stranger quickly put his hand over her mouth and with the other hand flipped the emergency stop button on the elevator.

"You're not safe." Removing his hand from her mouth, he repeated, "You need to listen to me, you're not safe."

Eleanor hesitated before asking, "Is this about my father, do you know who attacked him?!"

Reaching down beside her, he flipped the elevator back on and pressed the button for the second floor; they started to descend, "This is about Robert."

Doubting she would get a true answer, Eleanor asked, "Who are you?"

The stranger removed his hood, giving her a good look at his face , "That's not important. I have information for you. Meet me tomorrow night at the Christina Bridge in Holbrook. Meet me beneath it at midnight, come alone. And trust no one, especially in the palace."

"You expect me to meet some psycho at midnight? By myself?! Are you crazy?" Eleanor scoffed.

The elevator dinged, signaling it was about to open ,"If you want to know about Robert's death you will."

Trying to get as much information as she could before he was gone, "My brother didn't kill himself did he.

"No, he was murdered." The doors slid open and he turned to leave.

Eleanor reached and grabbed his arm. "Wait! How do you know this?"

Looking her dead in the eye, "Because I'm the one that killed him." Turning quickly he stepped off the elevator leaving Eleanor in a state of shock.

When the doors slid open on the ground floor, Eleanor hesitantly stepped off and straight into the arms of none other than her personal security, Jasper.

"Why the hell haven't you answered me?! It's bad enough you have me arrested, but now I can't even do my job!" He stopped, noticing how pale she was. "Eleanor, Eleanor what's wrong?!" Jasper grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to get a response.

"I need your help, Jasper." was the only thing she could say.


	7. Chapter 7

I greatly appreciate the reviews for my previous chapters, and apologize for the delay. I never could figure out where I wanted this to go. I think I finally have it though, or at least some kind of idea. Please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

Jasper grabbed her arm with no resistance and lead her towards his car. Placing her in the passenger seat, he walked around to the driver's side and slid behind the wheel. He turned to face her, noting that she still had not regained any color and was still deathly silent.

"Eleanor, look at me. What happened? I need you to tell me what happened, why do you need my help? Is it the king, did something happen to him?" Questioned Jasper.

Looking at him as though she were noticing him for the first time since the elevator, Eleanor attempted to speak but no words come out.

Jasper reached over and touched her leg gently, "Eleanor, take a deep breath and tell me what just happened."

"I went to see my father. The Queen told me she had arranged it so that I could see him, but when I got here he was gone; they moved him back to the palace. As I was leaving some man stepped onto the elevator with me and grabbed me from behind."

"Did he hurt you?!" Jasper interrupted. "Are you okay?"

Nodding her head yes, "I'm fine, once I agreed not to scream he took his hand off my mouth, but he said some things Jasper. He told me Robert didn't take his own life, that he was murdered."

"Why would he think that, Eleanor, I thought your brother was killed in a military accident?"

"I did too, until few days ago. After the paternity scandal I confronted the Queen, I accused her of having Robert killed. That's when she told me the truth, that Robert killed himself. But this man today, he said that wasn't true. He said that he knew Robert was murdered, he said he knew it because he was the one that killed him."

"Wait, what?" Jasper shook his head, "This doesn't even make sense. This man told you that he killed your brother. Just like that? What does he want? Did you believe him? What about your mum, was she lying to you?"

Eleanor thought for a moment, then looked him in the eye, "I believed them both. When mum told me that Robert killed himself, she believed it. I could see it in her eyes, the pain and hurt. But when this man admitted it in the elevator just now, I knew it was true. Robert wasn't the kind to take the easy way out, he wouldn't do that no matter how hard life got. That's why I need your help, Jasper. He wants to meet me tonight, alone, to tell me everything."

"Absolutely not!" Jasper all but yelled.

"Jasper, that's why I need your help. I want to meet with him, but I want you to go with me. I believe he was telling the truth but that doesn't mean I trust him. Will you go with me, please?"

Eleanor looked at him pleadingly as she said the last part.

Jasper was quite as he digested the information that he had just been told, and the request of the Princess. He started, "If we do this, we have to be careful. There's always a chance this is a setup." Continuing on, "Eleanor, think about it, if what this man is telling you is true, then we're dealing with professionals or at least he's a professional. If you're brother was murdered, then it was done by someone who had experience in staging the scene. Your mother knows almost everything that goes on in the palace and with her children, if she told you that your brother killed himself, if she really believed that, then she got that information from your father or someone that she trusted. Which means it looked real enough for them to believe."

"I hadn't thought about it like that." Eleanor became quite, then asked, "I wonder if my father's attack is related? What if it's the same people?"

"What time are you to meet him? Where?" Jasper questioned. "We can find out the rest then."

"He said tomorrow night at the Christina Bridge at midnight, and to come alone."

"Well, going alone isn't an option, but we can work with the rest. I'm going to take you back to the palace now, you're going to get some rest, maybe see your dad, and tomorrow night we're going to meet this man and find out exactly what he knows. Okay?"

Eleanor nodded her head in understanding, "Okay."

Without another word, Jasper drove them back to the palace. As Eleanor exited the car, Jasper called to her, "Eleanor, don't mention this to anyone. I'll come get you tomorrow and we'll go check out the location before the meeting. It's better to be safe than sorry."

She nodded her head in agreement then disappeared into the palace.

* * *

Glancing at her watch, Queen Helena realized it had now been nearly five hours since Rachel had informed her that King Simon had been moved to a room in the palace. Upon hearing the news, she had told herself that any minute she would go see him. Instead, she had finished up several over due correspondences, made phone calls, and then realizing she had nothing else to do in her office, she retreated to her bedroom. She looked at her watch again and thought, "that was four hours and 5 minutes ago."

It had taken her that long to come up with the courage to go and face her husband. Now Helena found herself standing outside the doors of the King's makeshift hospital room trying to gather the nerve to walk in. "Come on Helena, you've done harder things than this," She whispered to herself and pushed open the door.

Helena wasn't quite prepared for what she saw as she stepped into the room. There lay her larger than life husband, surrounded with IV lines and a tube to help him breathe. She knew that his prognosis was touch and go; she was updated almost hourly on his condition.

She moved towards King Simon, sitting down in the chair someone had pulled up beside his bed, and reached for his hand.

"This feels so odd," Helena thought, "I can't even remember the last time I even brushed up against him, let alone held his hand, kissed him, or anything else."

Watching the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, Helena sat in silence contemplating what to say. "I'm not even sure where to start. Do I tell him everything? No, he'd wake up just to kill me." Her mind was racing, "What if he doesn't wake up? He should know everything. Should I tell him I love him?"

Finally, after several minutes, "Simon I'm not sure if you can hear me or not. I hope that you can. There's so much I want to tell you, need to tell you. So I'm just going to start and you can yell at me later."

"I failed you, and I've failed our children," Helena said quietly. "I went behind your back to try to preserve the monarchy when I thought you were going to disband it. I sided with Cyrus over my own family and I hate myself for that. I'm so ashamed to admit it but I let the crown become the most important thing to me, for this I will forever try to make amends. Now, comes the worst part. After you were attached, Liam became Prince Regent. But before he could be crowned, Cyrus had both him and Eleanor declared illegitimate."

Tears started to form in Helena's eyes as she went on, "I'm sorry, so very sorry. I'd take it all back if I could. All the affairs, God I never meant for this to happen. I knew there was a possibility that the twins weren't yours but after they were born, Liam looked so much like you. I've screwed this up so badly." Helena continued, "Their faces, Simon. If you could have seen Eleanor's face. You were right when you said I should be nicer to our children." Tears were now falling freely down the Queen's face. "They hate me and I've given them every right to. Eleanor even accused me of having you stabbed and Robert killed. The fact that the thought even crossed her mind shows how badly I've failed as a mother."

"I WILL fix this some how, I can promise you that. Cyrus is out of control. And I think, no I know, he had the paternity results fixed. There was always the possibility they weren't yours but I heard him talking about Eleanor and I knew. I don't know how to describe it but I knew that the results were falsified. Now, I want nothing more than to drive my stiletto through his demented little brain."

"Simon, please wake up. I have years' worth of failures to make up for, to you and our children. If you want to do away with the monarchy, I'll help you. I even met with Mr. Moorefield, though it was more to get rid of Cyrus, but he'll help pass the referendum. As far as I'm concerned we can burn it to the ground, it's not worth it if I've lost my family."

"When you wake up, you may decide to divorce me, or kill me," Helena said with a half hearted chuckle as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "But if you will give me another chance, I promise you I will do better. I'll do you right by you and our children because in the midst of all this chaos I realized that without my family, I'm nothing. You can take the title, the crown, the jewels, but without you three I'm nothing. I love you, Simon. I really and truly do, and I want nothing more than to get a chance to prove it to you, as well as prove to Eleanor and Liam that they're the most important to me."

So focused on her confessions, Helena never heard the door open, or the footsteps walking up beside her.

"Mum." Eleanor said.

Helena jumped at the sound of her daughter's voice, dropping Simon's hand. "oh my god, Eleanor," She said as she grabbed her chest. "Are you trying to put me in a bed beside your father's?! If you're going to be shifty and sneak around, I'm going to need you to wear a bell."

Eleanor rolled her eyes as she pulled a chair up beside her mother's. "I'm being shifty, you're the one sitting here confessing your sins and acting like anyone else but my mum. I'm starting to worry about you." Eleanor cut her eyes towards her mother as she said the last part.

"How much did you hear?" Questioned the Queen, trying to determine if Eleanor had overheard anything involving her paternity. All Helena needed was Eleanor to go flying off the handle and confront Cyrus. All element of surprise would be gone.

"Enough," answered Eleanor.

"She didn't hear that part," Helena thought to herself. "If she did she would never be this calm."

"Look at me Eleanor, I meant everything I said." Helena grabbed her daughter's hand. "None of this other stuff matters, just you and Liam and Simon. And I will do whatever needs to be done to prove that to you, and to protect you. No more lies, Eleanor. I promise you, if you'll give me another chance, I will do everything in my power to show you all how much I love you."

Eleanor studied her mother, thinking, "I want to believe her, but what if this is all an elaborate lie?" But looking into her eyes, for the first time in a long time, Eleanor saw love and sincerity. "All wanted for the longest was a mum that cared, that was willing to put me first. If she's willing to try, then I need to let her."

"No more lies, mum, from here going forward, you owe me that. You owe us all that." She said.

Queen Helena gave Eleanor's hand a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, darling. I'll give you some time alone with your father now." Helena stood to leave but was stopped.

"Stay mum. Will you sit here with me for a little while?" Asked Eleanor.

Helena nodded her head and settled back into her chair, thankful for her daughter's request.

"Mum, just so you know, I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Eleanor awoke to a buzzing noise coming from the nightstand beside her bed. She haphazardly threw her hand towards it trying to turn it off, instead knocking the phone to the floor.

"For the love of God," She thought, "why is someone calling this early."

Her phone buzzed again, as she began to feel around on the floor blindly, trying to avoid opening her eyes. Finding it, she answered, "What?"

"Len, I've been trying to reach you for an hour," came the voice of her brother. "I was starting to get worried."

"Why are you calling so early and why do you need me?" Eleanor mumbled into the phone.

"It's almost 12 and I'm guessing you haven't checked any of your messages. Mum wants to see us, immediately, according to the five texts and voicemail she left me. The last text said to drag your bony ass out of bed and bring you since you weren't responding to her at all."

Eleanor sat up in bed and glanced around, not quite believing it was already late in the day. "Shit, what if I slept through Jasper's call?!" She panicked at the thought. Tonight they were to meet with the man that could answer so many of her questions.

"Len, Eleanor? Are you listening?" Liam questioned. "Do you think this is about who attacked dad?"

"Ugh yeah Liam," came an absent minded response, "me, you, and mum and I don't know what its about."

"I'm on my way to your room now, get ready." Liam hung up the phone.

Eleanor quickly checked her phone to see if she had any missed texts or calls, "two missed calls from mum, three from Liam, and too many texts. But nothing from Jasper." Quickly, she found his name, typed, "What's the play?" and pressed send.

Almost immediately her phone chirped with a response, "Will text when time to go. Be ready."

Climbing out of bed, she found a discarded hoodie laying across a chair. She pulled it on over her pajama top, followed by her Uggs laying under the table in the center of the room. "No since in dressing up, it's just mum."

As she slid her right foot into the boot, her bedroom door opened revealing her brother.

"This better be good, her reason for wanting to see us," said Liam, "maybe we're really adopted. That would be welcoming news."

Eleanor laughed," I highly doubt that, I look too much like our dear mother to not share her DNA." Standing up she walked towards her brother.

"Liam, last night me and mum talked. I mean really talked. I went to see dad and found her in there, crying and apologizing for everything. When she realized I was there, she told me she was sorry and that nothing matters but us. She wanted another chance."

With a questioning look on his face, Liam replied, "Was she serious?"

"She really was, I don't know if I've ever seen her like that before, Liam, but I believed her. I don't know why she needs to see us now, but it was a good night. I just need something good right now, so let's just let her talk and go from there, okay?" An almost hopeful look graced Eleanor's face as she made her plea to her brother.

"Okay, Len. We better go before she sends someone to find us."

* * *

"Mummm," Eleanor shouted as they rounded the corner of the hall that led to their mother's bedroom. Not bothering to wait for a reply, Eleanor opened the door and walked in followed by her brother.

"Really, Eleanor. I think the whole palace is now aware you've come to see me," Queen Helena responded pushing the door partly closed then walking back towards the coffee table and chairs in front of her window.

Liam, looked at his mother, "What is so important that you needed to see us both?"

"Keep your voices down and I'll tell you." Said the Queen pointing at the two chairs across from hers, "You both may as well sit."

Glancing at each other, Liam and Eleanor sat down.

"Has something happened to dad? Is that what this is all about?" Liam guessed.

Helena was quite a minute, drawing worried looks from both her children. "No, this isn't about Simon, this is about me. I asked you both to come here because I have a few things I need to say. I apologized to Eleanor last night, Liam, and now I need to do the same to you." She shot a small smile in Eleanor's direction. "I need you to know how sorry I am for everything, and most of all that I love you, both of you." Helena took a deep breath before continuing on, "It's taken me some time to realize what's most important and I'm ashamed that I lost sight of that. I may have succeeded as a Queen but as a mother I have failed you both. I'm asking for the opportunity to make it all up to you, as long as it takes."

Liam looked towards Eleanor with genuine surprise; his mother's eyes held a sincerity that they had previously lacked. "Eleanor was right," he thought, "I do believe her."

Noticing the expression on her son's face, Helena continued, "Please, I know that I've given you no reason to believe what I'm telling you to be true, or even to trust me, but I need you to."

The room was silent as Liam took it all in. He had waited for so long to hear his mother say those very words. Eleanor, having heard the same pleas last night, sat quietly.

"I need to know one thing first, mum, can you look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with either Robert's death or dad's attack?" Liam held her gaze, trying to detect even the slightest hint of a lie. "Wanting a fresh start is one thing," Liam thought to himself, "but I need to know she's being completely honest with us."

Without so much as flinching, Queen Helena responded, "I swear on my life I wasn't involved in either one. You can trust me, Liam, Eleanor."

"Okay mum." He finally spoke again.

Eleanor chimed in, "Just, please don't let us down again, okay?"

Helena nodded, "I promise you." "There's one more thing you should know. And this one, well it cannot leave this room until the time is right. Do you understand me?"

Eleanor and Liam looked at each other, Liam answered for both of them, "Mum, what's really going on."

"Ssssshhh keep your voice down. You can never be to careful and you never know who's listening." Helena warned. "It's about your father and the paternity test."

"Are you going to tell us who our father really is," Eleanor said sarcastically.

"Eleanor, please, I'm trying here. Simon is your father, I'm quite certain." Helena replied.

"Quite certain he's our father, that's what every child wants to hear, mum. That mum is a whore that slept around and now father is unknown." Commented Eleanor with disgust; her father was still a raw subject even with a newfound understanding with her mother.

Liam spoke up, "Len, let her talk."

"It's not my proudest moment by any means, and there were some concerns," Helena admitted honestly. "I mistakenly let it slip once to Cyrus. I think he had the paternity fixed so he could be crowned king. Deep down, I think I've known it from the start. Then a few days ago I overheard him make a comment about Eleanor and it was the way he said it. I don't just think it, I know he did it. I look at you both and I see so much of Simon in you."

Hearing enough, Liam jumped up, "I'm going to kill I'm. He doesn't deserve to even be allowed to set foot in this palace. I want him out, and as of right now, I'm putting him out!"

"Liam! Please, keep your voice down." Helena said trying to calm him down. "I plan on doing just that, but right now It's our word against his and he is the one currently wearing the crown. If you question it, he's just going to have the results fixed again. I know Cyrus, and how he thinks. I'm begging you, let me handle this."

"Eleanor, what do you think?" Liam asked, looking at his sister.

"For once, I agree with mum. If we make a play too quickly, Cyrus will manipulate the situation."

"I'm going to have it arranged for you to be tested again. I've already spoken to Rachel about it, and she knows a doctor whom she trusts explicitly. He'll perform the test but you need to go now."

As if on que, Eleanor's phone dinged with a new text message, she glanced down, "Meet me now. Your room." She jumped up, darting for the door.

"Eleanor," her mother called after her.

"Mum, I can't right now. I have to go. You asked me to trust you, I'm asking the same."

As Eleanor disappeared down the hallway, a tall figure emerged from the opposite side. Having overheard most of the conversation between the Queen and her children, he took off toward King Cyrus' room. He was completely unaware that while he had been eavesdropping, someone was watching him and slowly following to see his destination.

"I'll go mum, then we'll know for sure. He only really needs one of us anyways." Liam stood to leave.

"Thank you darling, the sooner we know the sooner we can take the crown off that pompous little bastard. Rachel is going to give you the directions. Text me when you're done?"

Liam nodded in agreement, before walking out the door he stopped and turned around, "Mum, I do forgive you." Then he was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Eleanor raced towards her room eager to find out what Jasper's plan was, only to find her bedroom empty. She looked back at the text message he had just send, "Meet me now. Your room."

"Where the hell is he?" she said aloud. As if in reply, the cell phone in her hand started to vibrate. Looking at the screen Eleanor saw the name JASPER.

"I'm here, where are you?" Eleanor asked as a way of greeting.

She was met with a reply, "Go over to the fireplace and reach up, right under the opening. There's a gun there, get it."

"You kept a fucking gun in my room?!" Eleanor all but shouted into the phone as she walked over to the fireplace. A soft chuckle was all the answer she got.

It took a few attempts of feeling around blindly before her hand met with the cool metal of a handgun; she pulled it out hesitantly unsure what to do next.

"Okay, I have it, now what?" She asked awaiting further instruction.

"Go to your bed, right side, there's another one there."

Eleanor dropped to her knees beside the bed, lifting up the bed-skirt as she said, "Do you always hide weapons randomly around other people's bedrooms?"

Jasper's voice was so low, Eleanor almost missed his answer, "Only when it's someone I care about protecting." Her heart began to beat faster at his admission.

"I can't think about that right now," she told herself. "When all of this is over, then I'll think about Jasper Frost."

Having grabbed the second gun, Eleanor placed them both on her bed before asking, "I've got them both, but just what do you expect me to do with them."

Jasper responded, "Grab some kind of bag and put them in it, no one in the palace needs to see you carrying two hand guns. Throw on something dark to wear for tonight and meet me at the west exit in ten minutes. I'm already in the car." Without waiting for an answer, Jasper hung up.

Eleanor quickly grabbed a pair of black jeans and black hoodie, trying to change as fast as humanly possible. "This is the night," kept racing through her mind." This is the night I find out the truth."

It wasn't often that Eleanor prayed, but she said a silent prayer as she hurriedly dressed. "God, please let this be the key to Robert's death and maybe dad's attack. I can't keep going not knowing, and not knowing if me or Liam or even mum is next." It felt strange to include her mother in that prayer, but for the first time in a long time, she felt she should.

Dressed from head to toe in black, Eleanor ran a brush through her hair, before pulling it up into a ponytail.

"Black bag, a black bag," she mumbled as she dug through her closet for something to put the guns in. Finding an older looking gym bag she tossed them in, slung the bag over her shoulder, grabbed her phone and took off running towards the west side of the palace.

Just as he said, Jasper had the car waiting when she came barreling out the side entrance. Eleanor climbed into the passenger side and looked at him expectantly.

"You ready, Princess?" Jasper Frost asked her.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Lucious made a beeline for King Cyrus' study. He had to warn the King that Queen Helena suspected he had tampered with the results.

Stopping just briefly to knock on the King's door, Lucious entered the room.

"Your majesty, we have a problem," he started but was interrupted by Cyrus.

"There's always a problem, Lucious, but what is it?" Cyrus asked, reaching for the decanter of bourbon. "Probably another issue with the people not liking me," Cyrus thought to himself. The true nature of the problem was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Sir, I just overhead Queen Helena talking to the twins. She told them that she thought somehow you had the test results switched, that Simon really was their father. She wants to have them retested."

Cyrus spit out the sip of bourbon he had just taken. "Shit! You told me that it was fixed, Lucious. You handled it yourself! Do you know where they're being tested at? We, as in you, have to swap those results again. Pay somebody off, shoot someone! I don't care, but if boy wonder takes back the crown and Simon doesn't make it, this monarchy is gone. Do you hear me?!"

"Yes, your majesty. Consider it done." Lucious answered before leaving the room.

"I have to find out where the test is being done," Lucious thought to himself as he walked back towards his quarters. "This is all for the monarchy. I've devoted my life to this institution and the only way to protect it is to help Cyrus stay king."

So consumed in his thoughts, Lucious never noticed Ted Pryce following him.

* * *

Ted Pryce was on his way to talk to the Queen about King Simon's security when he saw Lucious standing outside her bedroom door. He stopped in his tracks and watched him briefly.

"Is he eavesdropping on her?" He thought. Pryce was about to call to him and ask him what he was doing when he saw Lucious duck around the corner as if he had been caught. Not wanting to be caught himself, and curious as to what Lucious was doing, Pryce slipped into the closest open doorway and peered back down the hall. Sticking his head out just enough to see what was going on, he saw Princess Eleanor rush out of the Queen's bedroom headed in the opposite direction.

As soon as she was out of sight, Lucious reappeared. So preoccupied with his thoughts and in seemingly in a hurry, he walked right past Ted Pryce.

"Where the hell is he going," Pryce said to no one in particular. He waited until Lucious was far enough ahead of him so he wouldn't be noticed, then proceeded to follow him.

It didn't take but a couple of turns down palace corridors that Ted Pryce figured out Lucious' destination. He rounded the last corner just in time to see Lucious enter King Cyrus's study.

"Queen Helena was right," he thought, "Lucious can't be trusted." "Whatever he overheard must have been quite valuable if he made a bee line for Cyrus.

Pryce walked past the room, hoping to catch any piece of their conversation. Catching a "Shit" from Cyrus before total silence. Feeling that he was far enough past to not be noticed when Lucious left, Ted Pryce waited. Less than five minutes later he watched as Lucious left the room.

"I need to tell the Queen immediately," he said to himself as he started back towards the Queen's bedroom. "She was right, Lucious has been feeding information to Cyrus."


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for the review and favorites! Trying to wrap it all help! please continue to review and let me know what you think!

* * *

"We've been sitting in the car for hours, Jasper, let's just go wait under the bridge," Eleanor whined.

As soon as Jasper had picked her up from the palace earlier in the day, they had been staking out the bridge. When they had first arrived, they had walked around under both the bridge and around it, as Jasper tried to discern which way Eleanor's would-be attacker would be coming from. There was more cover and places to hide coming from the north side of the bridge so Jasper took a guess the mystery man would be coming from that direction. Once that was determined, they sat in wait on the south side.

Jasper rolled his eyes, "Eleanor, it's almost time, but like I tried to explain earlier, we need to wait until the last possible second. This mystery guy is going to be coming from the other direction because of the cover. Seeing as he wanted you to come alone, he's not going to think to check this side of the bridge for a car that's been sitting here all afternoon or for a car with a couple in it. He's going to assume that you're not as good at this little game as he is and you wouldn't risk finding out the truth about your brother by telling anyone. If we wait, he'll be there and by that time so will I. If he really has information about Robert, we need to get it, and I don't want him seeing me early to be the reason he gets spooked."

"Fine, I get it. I'm just tired of sitting here." Eleanor said with annoyance in her voice. "And I'm tired of sitting in silence," she thought to herself. After their initial walk-thru and they had returned to the car, Jasper, had tried to talk to make small talk but Eleanor had quickly shut him down. There was too much on her mind, and the last thing she wanted right now was to be thinking about how much she cared for Mr. Jasper Frost. There would be time for that later.

"Jasper?" she asked, "I just want to be clear on this. I'm going to walk up first and make contact, and then you'll be right behind me?"

"Yes, I'm hoping I can stay hidden in the shadows long enough to get even closer than I first told you. But you won't be out of my sight for more than a second if I can't. I will protect you if this turns out to be something other than a meeting about Robert." Jasper answered.

Eleanor shook her head in understanding and glanced down at her phone, the vibration indicating a text message. This one was from her mother, "Are you okay?"

Quickly typing a reply, "Yeah mum, fine. Trust me," Eleanor pressed send. It was different having her mum check up on her. This was at least the third or fourth time her mum had text her since she'd seen her earlier today; the Queen was quite clearly making an effort. She'd let Eleanor know earlier in the afternoon that Liam had met with Rachel's doctor, so in a few days they would know the truth no matter what.

Eleanor opened the message to her mother again and typed, "just in case you didn't know, I love you."

"I better say it in case this doesn't go according to plan," she thought. She smiled imaging her mum's reaction, "she's going to think I'm dying. Well, I very well could be." Eleanor pressed send.

"It's time, come on Princess." Jasper said, signaling for her to get out of the car. "Now remember, I'm right behind you."

The door felt heavier than she remembered it as she pushed it open to get out. Everything felt heavier; her heart was trying to beat out of its chest. "I can do this, just be brave, Eleanor," she said to herself as she slowly walked towards the meeting place.

The moon was shining only bright enough that she could see several feet in front of her, making the meeting place darker than she was comfortable with. Easing forward nervously, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness.

"That's far enough," she heard a man's voice say. "I'm glad to see you listened and came alone." He stepped into the moonlight so Eleanor could clearly see him.

Eleanor's heart began to beat even faster, "Oh god, where is Jasper?" She could feel herself beginning to panic.

Relief flooded her whole body as she heard Jasper say, "Who said she's alone?" To further emphasize his presence, Jasper made his way forward so that he was also visible, a gun in his right hand clearly pointed at the man.

"Whoa, who the fuck are you?" the man said, trying to size him up.

Eleanor answered, "He's with me, now please, he'll put he gun down if you just tell me who you are and what you know about Robert. Please?"

The man hesitated, trying to decide if Eleanor and Jasper were worth trusting. "okay fine, he lowers the gun and I tell you everything I know." Eleanor shot Jasper a pleading look; he dropped the gun to his side.

"My name is Boone, that's all you need to know. I was the one who killed Robert. They told me to make it look like a he killed himself so I did. But now, the King's been stabbed and I'm thinking someone is going to start cleaning up loose ends, so I wanted the truth the truth to come out before I'm a dead man too." Boone said.

"Who hired you?" Eleanor asked him. She was having trouble wrapping her mind around her brother being murdered, by the man standing in front of her no less, but she was still able to focus on the questions she needed to ask.

"I don't know. I never got a name, just a phone call and if I agreed then I'd get a Swiss bank account number with enough money I could disappear with."

"You haven't really told me anything you didn't tell me earlier," Eleanor pleaded, "Please, there has to be something else."

Boone studied her, he had one last ace up his sleeve in case he got caught, but seeing the look on Eleanor's face, hearing the desperation in her voice he made a decision, "I know where the call came from. It was from somewhere in the palace."

Eleanor felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her hand flew to her mouth, but nothing came out. She couldn't speak, she didn't even hear Jasper ask Boone if he was sure.

"I'm positive," Boone told him. "Use that information if you can. I've got to go." Then he was gone, disappearing into the same shadows he appeared in.

Jasper grabbed Eleanor by the shoulders, "Eleanor look at me. Are you okay?" "What can I get you. I've got water in the car, come on."

"They killed him Jasper, somebody in the Palace had my brother killed, and I didn't even get to ask him if he was responsible for dad too." Eleanor said barely above a whisper. The rage that she wanted to feel had been replaced by the astonishment and betrayal that someone from inside her own home had her brother murdered.

"I don't think he attacked, King Simon, Eleanor. If he confessed for Robert, he would have confessed for Simon too." Jasper told her knowingly.

The car ride back to the palace was silent, Eleanor was still in shock. Yet names and faces danced through her mind, "Is it someone I see everyday? Who could have Robert of all people murdered?"

"Princess, if you need me at all, you call me. I'm going to park the car, then I'll take my post outside your door." Jasper told her as he pulled up to the entrance of the palace.

Eleanor never looked back or acknowledged his comment as she entered her home. "I always felt safe here before, now I may be safer on the streets."

Entering her room, Eleanor ran to the shower. "I've got to get this night off of me, I can't stay in these clothes another minute." Turning the water as hot as it would go, Eleanor stepped in and let the scalding water begin to wash the night away. As the drops hit her body, she replayed the night's events. She could still hear Boone say, "It was from somewhere in the palace." Who within these walls hated her brother enough to do something like that?

Then it hit her, "Mum. I need to tell her; she may have some clue as to who it is. Whether she thought it important at the time she may have seen or heard something indirectly or even from dad in passing. She usually knows everything that goes on here anyways or has some idea."

* * *

Helena lay in her bed wide awake. Today had drained her both physically and mentally. She had come clean to her children about the paternity in that she was confident Simon was there father. But until those results came back there was still a small lingering doubt she couldn't seem to shake. Her highlight had been hearing Liam tell her he forgave her.

"It's a start," thought Helena, "Just as long as they both know I love them, I can work on fixing things between us. It's my job to make it right; I'm the one that failed them."

Just knowing that the twins were willing to forgive her gave Helena a small sense of peace.

"And then there's Lucious." Helena mumbled to the darkness. She was still digesting the conversation she had with Ted Pryce earlier in the evening. Helena was surprised to say the least when he had requested an off the books meeting immediately, thinking it had something to do with Simon, Helena told him she'd come to him just to keep it secret.

That's when Pryce had told her what she was growing to suspect, her trusted body man, Lucious, had been feeding information to Cyrus.

Anger and disappointment flooded her at the thought of the betrayal, "God only knows how long it's been going on, or what all he's told him. And now Cyrus knows about my suspicions with the Eleanor and Liam."

Helena was trying her hardest to think of the best course of action to prevent Cyrus from tampering with the results and to make Lucious pay, when she heard a knock on her door. Glancing at the clock beside her bed Helena realized it was well after one, "Who is knocking at this time?"

She was all but ready to call for her security, when the door opened a crack. Her daughters voice filled the room, "Mum, are you awake?"

Relief flooded her as she turned on the lamp to see her daughter, "Eleanor, good god, if I wasn't before I am now, what is it? Its after 1am."

Eleanor stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind her before turning towards her mother.

Even in the semi-dark room, Helena could make out the red rimmed eyes of her daughter and the disturbed expression on her face. "Eleanor? Darling, what's wrong?" She patted a spot of the bed close to her, indicating for Eleanor to crawl in beside her.

Without saying a word, Eleanor did as she was instructed, almost instinctively moving closer to her mother as she scooted under the covers.

Still unsure as to what was causing her daughter's distress, Helena wrapped an arm around her pulling her closer.

"Look at me, Eleanor, I need you to tell me what's wrong," the Queen said worriedly afraid something had happened to Simon or Liam.

Eleanor looked her mother in the eye and nodded her head in agreement, "I'll try."

"Mum," she started, "did you ever hear of any argument Robert had with anyone in the Palace?"

Helena looked at her perplexed, unsure of where the question came from, "No, darling, I haven't. Eleanor, what's going on? Why are you asking about Robert?"

"I've got to tell you something, mum, something that I'm not sure what to do about."

"You're scaring me, Eleanor. What is going on?"

"Yesterday, after you arranged it so I could see dad, I went back to the hospital. But when I got there, he had already been moved back to the palace." Seeing that her mother was going to say something, Eleanor stopped her, "It wasn't your fault mom, that's not what I was trying to say. Anyways, I got on the elevator to leave and there was this man. Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed me and put his hand over my mouth."

At hearing this, Helena did interrupt her daughter, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? My god, Eleanor why didn't you tell me last night or even today?"

"I'm fine, he didn't hurt me, I swear. Let me tell you the rest and you'll see why I couldn't tell you sooner." Eleanor could still see a troubled expression on her mother's face so she added, "He told me if I wouldn't scream he'd let me go, and he did mum. I'm fine, really."

"Mum, he told me Robert didn't kill himself." Eleanor said quietly. She watched her mother's reaction, making sure that she had heard.

Helena shook her head no, "That's preposterous. Of course he did. Robert's commanding officer told your father and I personally."

"How do I tell her this?" thought Eleanor, "She has to know the truth."

"This man said he knew for a fact that Robert didn't kill himself, mum, he said that he was murdered." Eleanor heard her mother gasp, "He told me to meet him under the Christina Bridge tonight and he'd tell me all he knew. I asked him how he knew Robert was murdered, he said he knew because he was the one that killed him."

Helena began to shake her head continuously, "It can't be," she mumbled, "they told us it was suicide. Robert wasn't murdered, they told us, so we came up with the idea of a military accident." Then, as if all of what Eleanor said finally registered, Helena all but shouted, "Oh please don't tell me you went and met with this man. Please, tell me you had more sense than that!"

Eleanor grabbed her mother's hand reassuringly, "I did, because we needed the truth about Robert, but I carried Jasper with me. That's why I ran out of here earlier, we had to go stake the bridge out." She hesitated, "there's more."

The Queen responded sarcastically, "What more could there be? A strange man grabs my daughter in an elevator, admits to murdering her brother and my son, and then said daughter runs off to meet this man in the middle of the night, after albeit she went on a stakeout." Helena placed a hand to her temple, "Eleanor, I don't know how much more I can take."

"Mum," Eleanor, unsure of how to proceed with the next bit of information, chose just to blurt it out, "Mum, he said the phone call came from within the palace."

Helena was quiet as she tried to make sense of what she had just heard, "There's just no way, Robert was murdered and surely no one in the palace was responsible." Was all she could think. Then the same little voice that told her it wasn't possible, "But isn't it? This palace was built on lies and blood, anything is possible within these walls."

"Eleanor, are you sure, what did this man look like? Who was he? Did he know he hired him?" Helena peppered her daughter with questions.

"He said his name was Boone, I'm not sure who he was other than that, but he had a military look about him. Clean cut, blondish hair, very intense eyes?" Eleanor said trying to remember more. "He said he didn't know who hired him, just that the call came from inside the palace."

Hearing the description, Helena remembered the picture that Pryce had showed her of the man standing outside the palace gates before Simon's attack. Rachel had given her the copy she'd asked Ted Pryce for and Helena had placed it in her vanity for safe keeping. Getting out of bed, she retrieved the picture, "Eleanor, look at this, is this the man you met with tonight?"

Taking the picture from her mother's outstretched hand, Eleanor studied it carefully. "the face is a little fuzzy, but the build, the way he's carrying himself, that's him mum. What is this photo?"

Eleanor looked at her mother with a puzzled expression.

"That, is a photo of a man that was standing outside the palace gates a few days before your father's attack. He just stood there, unmoving for hours."

"I don't understand, so he is involved somehow in dad's attack?" Eleanor questioned.

"I'm not sure darling," Helena sat down on the bed, "but this does tell us that they're somehow related."

"Oh god mum," Eleanor started to cry, "I had a chance, I had planned on asking him if he knew anything about dad but as soon as he told me the call came from inside the palace, I froze. I wasn't thinking about dad, all I could think was someone we knew and trust killed Robert. I missed it."

Helena reached over and grabbed her daughter, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Ssshhhh, darling. It's not your fault. Eleanor, you were so brave tonight, you did more than anyone ever asked of you, and you put yourself in harms way to learn the truth about Robert. He would have been so proud of you for that, so would your father, because I know I am."

Eleanor, pulled away a bit, still not used to her mother's compliments, "You're proud of me?"

Helena smiled as she reached up to wipe the tears from Eleanor's face, "So very much. Eleanor, I don't know what all this means, but I do know that you and your brother need to be extra careful. I don't want you running around meeting strange people in the middle of the night anymore, even with a bodyguard. I couldn't take it if something happened to either one of you. Promise me?"

"I promise." Eleanor said. Leaning in to give her mother a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Now, it's late Eleanor, let's get some sleep okay."

Eleanor raised her eyebrows at her mother.

"Fine, as much sleep as we possibly can," said the Queen. "I won't sleep tonight," she thought, "but Eleanor looks like she's about to fall over."

"Mum, would you mind terribly if I stayed in here tonight? I don't want to be alone." She asked her mother, almost afraid that she would say no.

"Eleanor, you don't even have to ask." Helena put the photo away and climbed back into the bed, turning out the light. "Good night, darling, I love you." Hearing no response, Helena stole a glance at her daughter, who was now snuggled deep into the covers facing her mother. Her eyes were closed; Eleanor was already fast asleep.

Helena reached for her phone laying on the nightstand, "I've got to tell Pryce." She quickly typed out a text message, "Add security to Simon immediately, it's all coming from inside the palace. We need to meet first thing in the morning." She pressed send. "He's not going to know what I mean by all coming from inside the palace," She thought, "I'll explain in the morning, if he'll just add security tonight." Without waiting for a response, Helena settled back onto her pillows and resigned herself to stare at the ceiling for the remainder of the night.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you all for reading! I promise the next update will not take this long! Please review and let me know what you think!

Liam walked the dimly lit halls of the palace leading to his father's room. Sleep had evaded him most of the night before he finally decided it was useless and that his time could be better spent elsewhere.

That decision led him here, to has father's door. He entered the room for the first time since the King had been moved back to the palace. Liam never was told his mother's reasoning for having the King moved home as soon as he was stable enough, but he was thankful that she had.

He pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down, all the while taking in the multiple tubes and IVs hooked up to his father.

"Dad," he said, "It's me, Liam. It's time to wake up now." Liam watched his father for any signs that he heard him, but saw none.

"I need you to come back to us, dad. The palace isn't the same, nothing is the same without you." He began. "I wanted to show you that I could do this, that I could make you proud of me, but instead I let you down."

Liam couldn't contain his tears as they began to flow freely, remorse evident in his voice, "I was supposed to be with you, but I wasn't. You're here because of me."

Taking a deep breath, and wiping his face, Liam tried to get his emotions under control. He took a deep breath, "So much has happened in the last few days. I'm not the prince regent dad, according to Cyrus, Eleanor and I are illegitimate. He waited until the coronation ceremony and humiliated us all. Mom believes that he doctored the results somehow, though the fact that there was a possibility has been hard to deal with."

"Mom though, dad I think you'd be proud of her. She's trying hard to make amends with both me and Eleanor, Eleanor especially. I'm not sure what changed for her, but something has. She actually has apologized to us; told us she loves us. She says she's trying to make things right, and she actually seems to mean it." Liam smiled. He was proud of his mother regardless, she was becoming the person that he had only occasionally glimpsed before."

"This has all really been hard on Eleanor, mom is the one making progress with her, but she needs you, dad. We all need you." Liam whispered the last part as he settled back into the chair. After having to be DNA tested again to find out for sure that the man laying before him was indeed his dad, all he wanted was to spend time in his presence.

At some point in the wee hours of the morning, Liam drifted to sleep, completely missing the flutter of King Simon's eyes.

Helena had tried off and on to sleep, but the information that Eleanor had told her frightened her. Somehow she knew it was all connected, but try as she might she couldn't quite make the pieces fit. Any other night, she would have already given up on sleep and started her day, but tonight, with her daughter curled up beside her she couldn't bring herself to move.

"She looks so small, but yet peaceful." Helena thought as she watched her daughter. "She didn't ask to be born into this diamond world, and yet she's handled it well for the most part. So she could do a little better, we all could."

Turning to stare back up at the ceiling, Helena began to turn the pieces over. "First Robert being murdered. Calls from inside the palace, his murder set up to look like a suicide. Simon being stabbed. Why can't I see it?" Her brain skipped from event to event, trying to make it all make sense.

She would tell Ted everything later in the day, about Robert being murdered, about Eleanor meeting with the man that said he did it, and how it was that very same man that had stood outside the palace gates days before Simon was killed. But for now she was the only one who had the full picture.

Helena could see the sky beginning to lighten as the day began to break. "Robert, Simon, Robert, Simon. And then it made sense, "Robert, Simon, Liam." She whispered.

The pieces clicked into place after the millionth time of trying to make them fit. She played it all out in her head, "The calls from inside the palace to kill Robert, Simon's attack. If he wasn't a strong man, a fighter, he wouldn't have held on like he had, and he'd be dead. Leaving Liam, who had since been declared illegitimate. And only one person benefited from it all. Cyrus."

"Son of a bitch!" She said loudly, before looking to see if she had woken Eleanor, who stirred but didn't awake.

Helena couldn't wait for Ted Pryce. This was her family, and she was going to handle it on her own. She jumped out of bed and ran to Simon's closet searching for the gun safe that she knew he had. Even though they lived in a palace surrounded by guards, Simon was a military man who insisted on keeping a weapon in his own room. For once Helena was thanking God she had been raised on a farm and knew how to use a gun, though it had been many years.

"Thank God, Simon uses the same combination for everything," she said to herself as she keyed in the twin's birthday. Reaching in she felt the coolness of the gun; she wanted nothing more than to hurt Cyrus. Her hands shook with rage. He was the one responsible for it all; she could see it clearly. Her son was dead, her husband may not survive, and the man behind it all was going to pay.


End file.
